As we grow more and more reliant on the Internet, many upstanding British citizens have taken to criticizing our computer-dependent lifestyles. Although such complaints may often be made in especially dramatic and extreme fashions, it’s not hard to see that technology has changed the way that most of us interact with each other on a daily basis. Text messaging, email, and online commerce are so ingrained in our work, home, and school routines that it would be hard to imagine a world without them, but it’s important to remember that the Internet has also had an immeasurable affect on society and recreation in the UK and all over the world. Online casinos have become very popular over the last twenty years and there has been a lot of debate going on in the media about whether or not online gambling is dangerous.Instead of arguing about whether the Internet is good or bad, players and fans of a certain popular and historic board game are using the capabilities of the online gaming platform to attract a new generation of competitors, breathing new life into a game that’s survived, virtually unchanged, for many years. This is because online backgammon has grown to be a relatively regular feature and can be found at most reputable casino websites. Game play may require special software (which is almost always free) or site membership, but there are many free game play backgammon options available to players who prefer to compete for fun, rather than money.
There are very few games today – online poker, online casino, or otherwise — that bear a striking resemblance to similar games that were played 5000 years ago. However, through archaeological evidence, we can see that backgammon boards on which the game was played so many years ago in ancient times, have not changed much and are very easily identified. While the name of the game may have changed, the set up of these boards are very similar to what we know as classic backgammon today.
Ancient Roman relics clearly show backgammon boards on coins and other artifacts. One version of the game was known as tabula, which actually means ‘board’ or ‘table.’ The discovery of an ancient Roman bronze mirror, for example, shows two people having a game of tabula with the 12-lined board clearly visible in the stunning decoration on the back of the mirror. While tabula was different to Duodecim Scriptorum or senat, for example, the constant between the many versions was the backgammon board.
The material used to make these boards has also changed over time. The first backgammon boards were made from wood or bone. Later Roman versions had the board made from pliable leather to make it easily transportable. The counters were usually made from wood, stone, ebony and ivory, depending on the class of people playing and the availability of the materials. The history of backgammon is long and illustrious but the fun that was had so many thousands of years ago is still experienced today by players around the world.
